Police Open Investigation On Patrick Moran In Voting Fraud Case

ARLINGTON, Va. (WUSA) - Patrick Moran is seen in this video, shot in Arlington County, first trying to dissuade the man from committing voter fraud. Then, after awhile, Moran offers these suggestions on how to skirt Virginia's voter ID law.

Fairfax County Republican chair Jay McConville says all those concerned about voter fraud should find the video disturbing.

"It's quite shocking. The suggestion that I could vote 100 times should be met with an absolute response, 'no way, don't do it.' That's illegal. And then it should be turned in," said McConville.

Jim Moran's Republican challenger, Patrick Murray, called for the investigation.

"He was so, seemingly knowledgeable, about how to conduct voter fraud. If somebody came up to me and said 'Patrick, I want to do some voter fraud,' I would have no idea. First of all, I'd tell them it's illegal and I wouldn't participate," said Murray.

Jim Moran's campaign office was empty and the door locked. All signs had been removed and we were unable to talk to him today.

He did release this statement.

Patrick is well liked and was a well-respected member of the campaign team. This incident, however, was clearly an error in judgment. The campaign has accepted Patrick's resignation, effective immediately.

The Moran for Congress campaign also released a statement about the investigation into the O'Keefe video:

"Our campaign welcomes a thorough investigation and we will fully cooperate. The incident involving Patrick was an unfortunate situation. While clearly lacking good judgment, Patrick's unsolicited interaction with a right wing political operative seeking to trap him in a damaging conversation did not constitute an unlawful action. We are confident this unwelcome chapter in the campaign will be quickly and favorably closed."

Here is a statement from Brian Moran, the chair of the Virginia Democratic Party.

Patrick Moran is my nephew and a good kid who in this instance, made a mistake. He has taken responsibility and has stepped down from the Moran campaign. The Democratic Party of Virginia is an organization that stands for free and open participation in our elections and we oppose even the appearance of any effort to undermine those values. Ironically, on Tuesday, Congressmen Moran (D), Gerald Connolly (D) and Bobby Scott (D) wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder , asking the Department of Justice to launch a multi-state investigation into voter fraud stemming from a Harrisonburg, Va. incident last week.

In that incident, a young contractor working for Pinpoint, which was hired by the Virginia Republican Party, was arrested and charged with 13 counts of voter registration fraud when he was allegedly seen throwing away voter registration applications.

Pinpoint operates throughout the Commonwealth, including Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.

The company faces 200 allegations of voter registration fraud in Florida and more possible cases in Arizona and Colorado.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is investigating that incident and now Arlington County police are investigating this incident in a Democratic campaign. Cuccinelli's office says they can only investigate voter fraud if asked to do so by the State Board of Elections.